Bob:
When one looks at the overhead view of the area, sees the featureless scrub desert for miles around in all directions, and sees this oasis where huge amounts of elevation change was created, rock walls were created, very natural rocky creeks were created, a pine forest was created... well... the word "engineering marvel" comes to mind. I really think it's an apt and correct description... and this knowledge is just inescapable as one plays there, I think. You just marvel at what was created....
So at least for me, it's hard to evaluate this golf course WITHOUT that thought creeping in!
That being said, it is a damn fine golf course. There are many memorable shots most definitely.
But it's the engineering marvel part, coupled with the ultra-exclusive nature of the club and the whole "show" of being picked up in a limo, passing the Fort Knox security, etc. that makes it a particulary "special" place. Some can ignore all this and assess the golf course as an entity in a vaccuum... more power to such people. To me, this is all part of the playing of the game at Shadow Creek, and thus to ignore it is silly.
TH